Lavender, Blue, and Jade
by Zannen
Summary: For a woman with all her knowledge, she didn't know how to handle things when they went this wrong. For a man who always followed his heart, he didn't know what to do when it gets this broken.
1. Triage

**Triage**

"Bring me two bags of Type A blood, STAT!"

On a normal day, a shout like that would bring immediate results. The bags of blood would be in the medic's hand before anyone could sneeze twice. But this day was anything but normal and Sakura's med-team was quickly falling apart at the seams.

It wasn't often that the Konoha Triage Team worked outside of the pristine walls of their hospital. For the most part, they did their work indoors and far away from the chaos of battle. Sakura knew that it was a mistake to allow the med nins to be so complacent and had pushed to dedicate more time and training to battlefield situations. But the Council denied her requests again and again.

_What good was a Triage Team if they couldn't accurately perform _triage_?_ Sakura raged inwardly as one of her nurses stumbled to the back of the hastily raised tent to the refrigeration unit where the blood bags were stored.

"H-here are the blood bags, Haruno-sensei," the nurse stammered. "B-but they are—"

"Moegi-san," Sakura interrupted. She frowned as she held the lukewarm bag in one hand while her other glowed with green chakra as she assessed her newest patient's injuries. "This bag is warm. Why is it warm?"

"I was trying to tell you, sensei," the girl replied, pointing to the refrigerator. "It's not working."

"Not WORKING?" one of the other nurses cried. "But that means that the medications and the blood…"

"Are worthless," Sakura finished, throwing the warm, _contaminated _blood to the ground. Searching her mind for a solution, Sakura continued to run her hands down the patient's body, healing what she could and taking note of what she couldn't. The items in the faulty refrigeration unit weren't all useless…_yet._ She had to find a way to keep what was still viable safe for use. Kami knew that they'd probably need all they could save for later.

"Moegi-san, is Udon-san stable now?"

"Yes, Haruno-sensei."

"Start a low level _Mizu_ jutsu surrounding the 'fridge unit. I know that you have water as your elemental chakra and that he has wind," Sakura continued, pausing as she ran her hands over the broken woman's leg. "Get Udon-san here as soon as you can and have him help you keep the unit cold. We can still save the meds, if not the blood. Once you think enough ice has formed, set up a blood kit and have Udon-san donate as much as is safe. He's Type O, so we'll need it. Have anyone else outside that's stable enough—but not fit for battle—donate blood as well. And keep track of who donates and what blood type they are!"

"Hai, Haruno-sensei!" The young woman placed the water technique around the refrigerator as soon as Sakura finished the first sentence and was running out of the tent as soon as the last words left the medic's lips.

"Rika-san," the pink haired woman spat out orders like bullets. "The patient's left leg is a lost cause. Tie a tourniquet to prevent further blood loss and help me re-inflate the right lung. One of the broken ribs punctured through the lower lobe and we're gonna need her to breathe on her own."

The black-haired Rika paused in shock. "But a tourniquet will mean that we'll have to…"

"Amputate the limb," Sakura finished the grisly prognosis. "We can wait to do that later. Right now I need you to tie the leg off and help me with her lungs!"

"But, Haruno-sensei, if she loses her leg then she can't use…she'll have to quit being a shinobi…"

Sakura's neck cracked as she whipped her head around to glare at the pale-eyed nurse. She raised herself to her full height and scowled.

"Hyuuga Rika-san," she began coldly. "I understand your concern for the patient's ability to continue her career. But I'm more concerned with keeping her alive." Emerald eyes narrowed as she glanced pointedly at Rika's bare forehead. "Or do you want to be sent to the Branch Family when Hiashi-sama finds out you let his oldest daughter die?"

Rika's hands became a blur of movement as the nurse efficiently tied the tourniquet around their patient's leg. As the two medics began the complicated procedure of re-inflating a punctured lung, the young Hyuuga could only whisper one thing over and over.

"I'm sorry, Hinata-sama…"

* * *

Sakura and Rika had just managed to re-inflate Hinata's lung and begin a IV line for the first bag of Udon's donated blood when a blood covered Inuzuka Kiba barreled through the flap of the medical tent with an equally blood covered Naruto leaning on him for support.

The Triage team took an immediate assessment of the newcomers and, as one, lifted the unconscious Hinata onto the spare cot near the back of the tent. Udon watched from the sidelines as Moegi checked on his own IV bag and clucked her tongue twice.

"This is your last bag, Udon-kun," she stated.

"I can give more—"

"No you can't," came the stiff reply. "Not if you want to help me keep the med unit cold." Anything Udon might have said to that statement was drowned out as another voice filled the tent.

"NO!" Uzumaki Naruto tried to fight the hands that urged him onto the makeshift operating table. The pupils of his eyes were elongated and his nails were sharp claws, but the irises remained the steadfast ocean blue that so many people loved.

"Hinata-chan!" he gasped as Sakura grabbed his injured shoulder and tried to heal the damage. "I'll be fine! The damn fox will heal me. Save Hinata-chan!"

Kiba's head snapped up from where he stood as Rika healed the worst of his wounds. "Hinata-chan…" he whispered, suddenly aware of her presence.

"Naruto," Sakura hissed out as she cut his damaged shirt off of his mangled torso. "Stay still. I've done everything I can for her."

"The fox will heal me!" Naruto repeated. The blond blinked twice as his vision abruptly blurred. "S-save Hinata-chan…"

Emerald eyes widened as realization came over her. "Fuck! Poison…" she yelled. "Rika-san, Moegi-san, general anti-venom, 6 milligrams, STAT!"

"That's three times the usual," Rika said as she rushed to the med unit the ice jutsu was keeping cold.

"It's Uzumaki Naruto," Sakura snarled. "His metabolism can handle it."

"Hi-Hinata-chan," Naruto stuttered as he stared at the still form on the other cot. "Sakura-chan, tell me she's alright."

Sakura remained silent as she worked over the various wounds on the blond man's body. Her jaw tightened when she discovered a large tear in his abdomen and her eyes narrowed at the amount of blood her former teammate was losing.

"Moegi! I'm gonna need B blood, NOW!"

"Tell me she's alright," Naruto pleaded again, blood trickling out of his mouth and down his chin.

"Sakura-san," Kiba growled. "Tell the man what he wants to hear for Kami's sake!"

Pale hands flew and lit up bright green as the Triage team worked in tandem, silently and purposefully ignoring the two males.

"Sakura-sensei," Rika said, sympathy rushing through her at the look in Naruto's eyes—sympathy that was pushed ruthlessly back as she focused on her task. "I've injected the anti-venom, but his blood pressure has dropped drastically. The medicine won't work if we can't keep his BP up."

"I _know_ that dammit!" the pink-haired woman answered. "I sent Moegi to get some B blood. We don't have the plasma fillers anymore because the damn 'fridge went bust. Quick! Help me with the liver! Don't use chakra right now, we're gonna need it later. Conserve your strength."

Kiba gaped as both women plunged their hands into the gaping wound on Naruto's abdomen and tried not to vomit at the overpowering scents of blood and medicine in the tent. "Sakura…" he growled again as Naruto moaned in pain.

"Shut up, Kiba," she answered. Her eyes narrowed in concentration as her fingers felt along the organ. "There! Along the distal portion of the liver…feels like a 3 inch laceration. FUCK! He's hemorrhaging…where's Moegi with that blood?!"

Rika pulled her hands out of the wound and held glowing hands over Naruto's skull. "Should I put him under, Haruno-sensei?" she asked.

The pink-haired woman nodded and began gathering chakra to heal the bloody organ.

"NO!" Naruto bucked violently and Sakura had to move with the blonde's erratic movements or run the risk of eviscerating him herself. "Sakura, promise me she's okay!"

"Naruto…" Sakura warned. "I can't promise you that! I've done all I can!!"

"Then do more!" Naruto yelled. His hands grabbed onto Sakura's wrists, uncaring that the hands they were attached to were currently deep in his body.

"You've got to save her, Sakura-chan…"

"Naru—"

"_PLEASE," _Naruto begged. "Please save my wife…!"

**

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**A/N:**

Okay…I'm back from my really long absence and writing something completely different. I've got major block on my other fics and this has been nagging me for a good while.

I'm sorry the first chapter is a bit short, but I'm still getting my writing legs back under me (so to speak) and I'm finding it harder than I remember.

For those who've followed my work before, thanks for the support.

For these who want to flame me for my absence, my stories, or whatever…you can't insult me any worse than my ex-husband did, so a big *pppffffbbbbttt!!!!* to you all.

**Edit 07-17-09**: I actually redid this chapter by combining the old Ch. 1 and 2 into this one. I really didn't like how short the old chapters were and I was still getting used to writing again. I hope it flows better now.


	2. Frantic

**Frantic**

Pain raged through him.

It tore at his soul and caused his already overtaxed heart to thud in anguish. The sight of the still form on the cot five feet away from him made him want to run out of the medical tent and destroy what was left of the enemy shinobi that did this to her. His nails bit into the flesh of his palms as he fought to contain his anger. Now was not the time for selfish revenge. The logical part of his mind knew that they needed to regroup in order to finish this war.

But _Kami_ knew…

He wanted to break the ones who broke the woman he loved.

Shouts of rage filled the blood stained tent and the sounds of battle grew louder as Konoha's forces were pushed back once again by the relentless Iwa shinobi. Sakura's voice—louder than the screams of protest and the roars of battle cries around them—rang with authority as she ordered her staff to do her bidding. Bits and pieces of what the pink-haired woman said burst through the haze of agony and anger the male felt.

"Moegi, start the transfusion…I _know_ that he's loosing too much blood for it to work properly, but we need to get his blood pressure up NOW…Rika, what's the status on the poison? Is the anti-venom working?"

_Poison, _he wondered to himself. _Is that why the wounds weren't healing like they should?_

"Crap…it's hit his kidneys. I've got my hands full with this damn liver. Rika, do what you can for the kidneys. Moegi, I'm gonna need more bags of B pos—"

"Haruno-sensei," the youngest nurse cried out. "Patient's BP is dropping. The extra blood isn't helping and we don't have anymore B blood left!" The three medics didn't even flinch as the body on the operating table spasmed in a fit of bloody coughing. They simply moved together to save the man before them.

"For-Forget me," Naruto coughed again. The blonde's chest shuddered on a racking breath and became frighteningly still.

"**NO!"** Sakura shrieked out the denial on a savage scream. The woman placed glowing hands on Naruto's chest and placed her mouth over his to bring much needed air to his lungs.

Sakura stood crouched over Naruto's body—as if she could defend him from the Shinigami himself. Her hair ran in straggling pieces from the messy ponytail on her head and her eyes gleamed with desperation and buried torment. Naruto's blood smeared her mouth and chin from her attempts at resuscitating the blonde but she ignored the coppery taste and wetness to scream at her teammate and best friend.

"Don't you dare…! Naruto, I swear! Don't do this!!! Don't _do_ this to us!!! C'mon…c'mon and breathe! What about Hinata, you jerk?! Naruto! Alright, that's one breath. Gimme another…Goddammit, you took one breath now take another!! I can't keep breathing for you, _baka_!"

Through it all, Inuzuka Kiba heard the panic in her voice, the sheer terror and denial in her shouts. But for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to care.

Until the medic yelled out Hinata's name.

"You need B blood," he rasped out, pulled from his stupor by the sound of _her_ name on Sakura's lips. He stepped forward and held out his arm. "I _have _B blood."

Determined amber met calculating green and Sakura asked one question.

"The battle?"

"Shikamaru's already picked out a spot for cloud-gazing," the dog-nin stated without hesitation. "They don't need me."

Sakura blinked twice before she began barking out orders again. This time for a two-way blood kit and bag. "We don't have the time to wait for you to fill a bag on your own," she explained to Kiba as he came closer to the table. "Naruto's breathing, but barely. Rika! Ambu-bag him! Steady breaths, 20 per minute. Moegi, prep Kiba. Kiba-san, we're going to set it up so that your blood will flow directly into Naruto's veins. Don't worry about his blood or any poison getting into your system though. There's a valve on both lines that prevent backflow to you."

Throughout the hasty explanation, the woman's hands busily went back to work on Naruto's liver. The wound was still bleeding, but not as profusely as before. The tired dog-nin stood in place as the petite Moegi set up the blood kit with competent hands. Kiba could only watch in wonder as the three medics moved in tandem with only grunts and small gestures to each other. Now that a course of action was set, they moved unerringly toward the goal of saving their patient.

Time passed and, slowly, Naruto began to breathe on his own. Someone brought a stool for Kiba to sit on as he watched his blood flow from his arm and into the blonde's body. Sakura cleaned the blood off of her own hands, arms, and face while Moegi checked on the refrigeration unit and Rika stepped outside to see to the wounded shinobi resting outside of the operating tent. Calm silence reigned for five minutes before the pink-haired woman's posture snapped up to attention as if she remembered something important and rushed to the corner where her original med pack lay.

"Oi," Kiba called out, worried that this new flurry of motion after such a quiet interlude signaled something bad. "What's gotten into you?"

Sakura ignored the brunette's question as she continued to rummage through her backpack. Kiba could hear her murmur to herself, but—even with his canine senses—couldn't make out anything the woman was saying. He watched with narrowed eyes as she found what she'd been searching for and stiffened when she strode toward him with determination in her steps.

"I save these for extreme emergencies on my missions, Inuzuka," she stated as she pressed a package into his hand. "Take one now and one in about a half an hour. This is the good stuff and from my own private stash as well. So don't waste it."

With that said, Sakura walked out of the tent to help Rika with the walking wounded.

Kiba opened his hands and blinked in confusion at the package in his hands. He'd been expecting soldier pills, but what he held was nothing like the chakra restoring edibles he and his teammates used.

"Oooohhh," Moegi gasped in awe as she saw what was in the older nin's hand. "That's Haruno-sensei's, isn't it? You're so lucky, Inuzuka-san! Haruno-sensei doesn't share that with just anyone!"

"It's chocolate…"

"Not just _any _chocolate!" the younger medic corrected. Standing by the refrigeration unit, Moegi continued to sort the damaged materials from the viable. "It's _Godiva_ chocolate! And I know that dogs can't eat that, but I've seen your chart Inuzuka-san and _you_ certainly can."

"Why would she…?"

"To keep your blood sugar up, silly," the girl giggled for the first time in days. "You're giving a lot of blood and you're gonna get dizzy after a while. So do what Haruno-sensei says and eat one now."

"Why does she even have…?"

"She said it was for 'extreme emergencies' when she goes on missions, Inuzuka-san," Moegi said playfully. She looked over at the confused man and raised an eyebrow. "Now when and what _kind_ of emergencies would Haruno-sensei—or _any_ woman—require that degree of chocolate goodness?"

Kiba had the grace to blush as he ducked his head and ate the sinfully rich chocolate. As soon as the treat touched his tongue, the man all but melted to the floor in bliss. He could see why the medic kept such heaven with her and appreciated her concern for him that she would share that heaven with him. Moegi smirked as she heard the other man's reaction to the chocolate, but kept her back to him as she tiredly threw yet another bag of contaminated blood products into the biohazard bin.

"One last question," the brunette voiced. "And I promise to be quiet for a while." When Moegi looked over her shoulder in disbelief, Kiba just shrugged.

"How is she?"

The young medic turned toward the quiet figure across from her and frowned.

"She's stable for now," Moegi started. She didn't know how much to tell him, but knew that—as Hinata's teammate—Inuzuka Kiba had the right to know as much as her family did about her condition. "She suffered major damage to 50 percent of her body, largely on her left side. Her leg was shattered and we were forced to put a tourniquet on it to stop the bleeding. It'll be hard for her to deal with, but if she wakes up she'll only have one leg."

"What?!" Kiba jumped up from his seat when he heard those words, carefully keeping the forearm with the IV line below his heart. "What did you say?"

"We put a tourniquet on Hinata-san's leg," Moegi repeated. "We'll have to amputate the limb as soon as she's stable enough. If we'd had more time or were at the hospital instead of on the field, we _might _have been able to use the jutsu the Godaime used when Gaara-sama crushed Lee-san's legs. But we don't have the resources here for a healing jutsu of that magnitude."

"No," the dark-haired man growled. He dragged a shaky hand through already disheveled hair and glared at the medic. "You said '_if she wakes up_.' What the hell does that mean?"

Moegi bit her lip as she realized she may have spoken a bit too candidly for the other shinobi's state of mind.

"It means, sir," she said, remembering his rank of jounin. "That, due to the trauma she received in battle, Uzumaki Hinata is in a coma."

**

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**A/N:**

Woo! I finally finished this chapter! It's longer than the others and finally to my liking.

Enjoy!

Ja ne,

Zannen


	3. Aftermath

**Chapter 3—Aftermath**

Black was the color of the day.

Black cloths covered windows and doorways. People—from the eldest man to the youngest toddler—dressed in the somber color. There were no hints of blue or red, no splashes of orange or the ever-present green of Konoha shinobi vests.

There was no laughter.

The Village of Konoha was quiet. The war was over, but the streets were empty of cheering crowds. Children remained silent; the older citizens spoke in hushed tones; even the wildlife in the once busy village seemed somehow subdued. Most of the shops remained closed. The Academy and civilian schools stayed empty. The training grounds and the Hokage Tower were devoid of life.

The only place where life continued normally in Konoha was in the assorted flower shops. And the owners of those shops cursed the day and the money they reluctantly put in their cash drawers. They could not find joy in the fact that, for the first time in a year, their businesses were booming and in the black.

Many of the florists sold their entire stock of white lilies by noon.

It was a day of mourning.

At this moment, funerals—both public and private, for the known and the sadly unknown—took place throughout the once serene village.

A new Memorial Stone was set up, yards from the first cold blue monument. The majority of the villagers and shinobi attended the ceremony. The sounds of crying, sobs and wails, echoed in the clearing as Jiraiya and Tsunade—in their roles as the new village Elders—solemnly called out and carved the names of each of the ninja Killed-In-Action during the last battle against the Village of Iwa.

In another part of Konoha, the Nanadaime Hokage gazed out at the assembled crowd and sighed. The new and garishly red and white hat sat atop his head, an uncomfortable and unwelcome weight. The robes he wore mirrored that of the Godaime Kazekage standing next to him. Bold red where tranquil blue lay on a layer of pristine white. He'd rather be wearing the black of his colleagues.

Hell, he'd rather be wearing his usual Jounin outfit than the costume he wore in its place.

Because it felt like a costume…these robes and traditional trappings that signaled to all and sundry that he was the leader of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. They didn't belong to him. The title, the prestige, the _headache_…none of it belonged to him.

Tears came to his eyes as he turned his head to the larger of the two caskets lined up behind him.

"Shikamaru," a soft voice accompanied the soft nudge to the man's elbow. The Hokage's dark brown gaze met that of the aqua-eyed Kazekage. "It's time to start."

Shikamaru nodded, almost knocking the silly hat off of his head, and turned once more to the crowd of grieving faces before him.

"The two shinobi we come here to remember weren't perfect," the once and always lazy nin began. "They weren't the perfect textbook definition of what a shinobi has to be. They both lived their lives with their emotions out there for everyone to see. They laughed and cried. One more loudly than the other," at this several people chuckled sadly. "They went into battle with their hearts full of love. Love for this village, love for their precious people…what they did, _whatever _they did, they did with love."

Shikamaru paused for a shuddering breath and stared at the ground for a moment. When he looked up again, he saw things that he never thought possible, things he refused to believe, and things that broke his heart.

Kakashi was _on time._

Shino went, for the first time in memory and in respect for those who died, without his sunglasses.

Gaara was slowly losing control of his sand, if the cracks in his "skin" of sand armor was any indication.

And the Hyuuga…

The Hyuuga were _crying._

Neji and Hiashi stood stoically, allowing the tears to flow down their faces. Hanabi sobbed frantically, not caring that her eyes were bloodshot or that her nose had turned an unattractive shade of red. Every Hyuuga present shed tears for the one they had lost.

"They weren't the perfect definition of what shinobi _have _to be," Shikamaru repeated. "But they were the perfect example of what shinobi _should_ be. Like the Sandaime before them, they each carried the Will of Fire. As we all carry the Will of Fire. What we do now, how we live for them who've passed on, we do with love in their honor."

With shaking hands, Shikamaru laid a white lily on first one casket, then another.

"Goodbye, Naruto," he whispered. "Goodbye, Hinata. Thank you."

Slowly, he bowed. He was only slightly aware of Gaara repeating his actions behind him as he walked to the side of the clearing. Turning to face away from the caskets, he folded his arms and sighed again.

"I didn't know you had it in you, kid," a gruff voice murmured.

"Shouldn't you two be at the Memorial Stone Ceremony?" Shikamaru asked slowly.

"The civilians don't know squat about shadow clones," the tall Frog Sage replied. "And the shinobi who do figure it out, understand."

Gesturing to the tall, busty blond waiting her turn to pay her respects, Shikamaru asked one more question. "Are you going to join her?"

Jiraiya frowned as he took in Tsunade's appearance. Like everyone else, her eyes held a broken, defeated look that he couldn't stand.

"I'll pay my respects in private," he said after a long pause. "Right now, the village can't afford to have both of us break down."

"I know what you mean," the new Hokage muttered. There hadn't been a moment since his "promotion" that wasn't taken up with details and plans for Konoha's rebuilding. Quiet moments for mourning his friends were few and far between. Now that he was Hokage, his grief had to be silent and private. Breaking down was no longer an option.

Silence reigned between the two men for a while, and then Shikamaru straightened from his normal slouch when Hyuuga Hanabi stopped in front of them.

"Hokage-sama," the young Hyuuga spoke softly. "Although I know of the circumstances in which my sister and brother-in-law died, our family was not given the full report on the incidences."

"Those are classified to the medic-nins on duty, Hyuuga-san," Shikamaru began, but was cut off by Hanabi's next words.

"I d-do n-not want to know all of the d-details," she stated with a stifled sob. The stutter surprised the two other men, who realized that maybe Hinata's younger habit was an inherited trait brought out by strong emotion. "Moegi mentioned that she heard one of her medic-nin friends say that my sister…" another stifled cry of grief. "My sister and brother-in-law passed away within moments of each other."

Shikamaru nodded. "That is true, Hanabi-san," he confirmed. "Twelve minutes after Naruto's body succumbed to the poison in his system, Hinata also passed."

Whatever Hanabi would have said died in her throat as she suddenly turned around. The two older men also looked in the same direction and froze in place. Tsunade stood in front of Naruto's coffin. Her head bowed in grief as she clenched her fists at her sides. Slowly, she pulled out a familiar necklace from her pocket and stared at it.

"Stupid gem," she cried. "Stupid, stupid, cursed thing! Why? Every goddamned time…"

All those who knew of the pendant's history gasped as the former Godaime Hokage fell to her knees and began to pound the dirt with the fist that held the necklace. For once, the Legendary Sucker didn't use her chakra to either enhance or soften the blows and soon her fist became bloody from the abuse.

The assembled mourners longed to stop the woman, but felt helpless against the pure grief in her posture and aura. Just as Jiraiya was about to step forward, a small hand gently grabbed onto Tsunade's shoulder.

"Tsu-baa-chan," the girl whispered. "Please don't hurt yourself."

The older woman looked at who spoke and her eyes glistened with new tears as her gaze took in the beautiful seven year old.

Bright gold hair pulled back into two ponytails much like her own; gleaming sapphire eyes that would forever hold a hint of mischief in them, even now; lightly tanned skin.

Tsunade didn't feel when small fingers gently pried apart her bloody fist, but she did notice when the necklace was held in front of her.

"Can I have it?" the girl asked softly. Those that heard the request gasped, while Tsunade herself felt a howl of denial start to rip through her.

"It's not cursed," the girl said, "He was the Rokudaime Hokage, wasn't he? It's not cursed."

Tsunade's lips clamped shut and rejection of the idea was present in her amber eyes.

But the girl's own sapphire gaze remained firm. "Please, baa-chan," she asked again. "Let me have, Chichue's necklace."

"Why?" the heartbroken Sannin asked, almost afraid to hear the answer she knew was coming.

And come it did.

Flashing a dazzling smile that forced the girl's eyes to become little more than squints on her face, the seven year old loudly proclaimed:

"Because one day, I—Uzumaki Eika—will be the next Hokage!"

**

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**A/N:**

Wow…that was one of _the_ hardest scenes/chapters I've ever had to write. This has always been my plan for this story. And for the longest time, I couldn't find the right words and phrases to tell it. But I finally did. In one night of insomnia, I wrote this…and I had to stop halfway through because I was about to cry, but I _had_ to finish it.

I hope you enjoyed it.

**Chichue—**it means 'father' but more childish in a way. It has the same tone as "Daddy"

**Eika—**this means 'song' which I think is an appropriate name for the child of Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata


End file.
